By Carol Hagler John 13:34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. Our culture often describes a favorable impression of some event, thing, or person as love. As in, “I love that gift you found!” “ Don’t you just love his sense of humor?” My…
By Randy Edwards 1 Peter 1:8 As children, we gain lot of joy from receiving Christmas gifts. Gifts all wrapped up and placed carefully under the tree. Gifts about which we can wonder and guess and get all excited! Gifts which, on Christmas morning, we can tear into to finally discover all the fun stuff…
By Garrett Vickrey Luke 1:46b-55 Be convicted. We need this song of Mary. We need it before we give another gift. Before we shop for that last gift. Before we meet at the manger. We need to be reminded by Mary of what this season is all about. We need to be reminded that the…
By Norm Dugas Psalm 40:1-6 “Joy to the world! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King.” Most of the time, we experience joy for very individual reasons. My team wins the big game and I am joyful (just not this year). In this case, my joy may be another person’s heartbreak. Family brings…
By David Dillingham Romans 12:9-12 How many people have you known who have made poor decisions in a quest for happiness? The joy of Christ extends well beyond the boundaries of human happiness. Joy is always an indirect result of the receiving and giving of grace. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, gives detailed…
By Diana Bridges John 1:14 I’m always a little troubled when I read that someone “doesn’t suffer fools gladly.” Rather than being a sign of enlightenment or sophistication, it strikes me as a mark of willful blindness. In John 1:14 the apostle declares that “…we have seen his glory…full of grace and truth.” Certainly, many…
By Nikki Blair Psalm 98:4-9 in the silence of night, God whispers a Word, delivering our salvation, and shapes the light, revealing all that is right in the silence of night, God hovers over the waters of creation, the very waters of birth, remembers that it is good that it is love on a starlit…
By Vaughan Ballinger Luke 2:8-10 Today’s scripture is Luke 2:8-10, “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they are terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, I bring good news of GREAT JOY that will be for ALL the people.”…
By Gina Garrison Luke 1:46-48 Mary was bursting with delight! She was to be the mother of the Messiah! Her song of gratitude, humility, and praise overflowed in this passage from Luke. Even today, her wonder and joy fill our hearts as we, like Mary, prepare for the coming of Jesus. Although few of us…
By Garrett Vickrey Isaiah 9:2-3 Nobody does joy like a toddler. And right now nothing makes my (almost) 2 year-old daughter, Zetta, happier than hippos. There is no place that Zetta is happier to be than at the zoo in the hippo exhibit standing in front of a giant glass wall where she can watch…